Genre: Thriller / Action
Running Length: 2:11
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Aaron Kwok, Zhang Jingchu, Catherine Chau, Liu Kai-chi, Joyce Feng, David Wang, Alien Sun, Deno Cheung, Justin Cheung
Director: Felix Chong
Screenplay: Felix Chong
What's this movie about?
In PROJECT GUTENBERG, the Hong Kong police is hunting down a mysterious group of counterfeiters led by a mastermind with a code-name "Painter" (Chow). No one has seen him before.
In order to unmask and track down Painter, the police interrogates a timid Lee Man (Kwok), a former gang member of Painter. Lee was imprisoned in Thailand. He was employed by Painter for his talent of copying paintings to a T.
And thus begins the Usual Suspects-type of flashback where Lee reveals his time with the gang and the meticulous details of their counterfeiting operations.
And thus begins the Usual Suspects-type of flashback where Lee reveals his time with the gang and the meticulous details of their counterfeiting operations.
Highlights!
Despite the rubbish Chow Yun-Fat has been putting out since his return to Hong Kong, he is extremely watchable here. He channels some of his most iconic screen presence here as a suave gentleman criminal who is capable of bursting out in sudden scary temper tantrums. When he is in the latter mode, Chow's Painter is rash and violent. He is convincingly menacing here.
The ensemble cast is very capably supported by veteran Liu Kai-chi.
What I like is also a very detailed exposition on how greenbacks are counterfeited. In fact, it's almost documentary-like with close-ups and hidden details on the US hundred dollar bill.
There are a few homage-to-the 90s action set pieces. It's always nice to see Mr Chow fires up two guns (and two machine guns, hell yeah!) while leaping in slo-mo - eventhough I personally think he's too old for this.
Lowlights
Aaron Kwok - he is always overacting and he does it here again. He is not a terrible actor but throughout the movie, I was thinking who could have better played his role to give Chow a run for his money.
Overall, this movie is over-bloated and could have benefited from some trimming.
In summary
Coming from the writer of the modern HK classic Infernal Affairs and starring the legendary Chow Yun-Fat, I had high hopes for Felix Chong's PROJECT GUTENBERG to catch another lightning in a bottle but alas, it's more of a case of 'lightning never strikes the same place twice'.
Don't get me wrong, everything about the movie was original, entertaining and even educational...until the very last act.
The last 15 minutes of the movie is a baffling choice coming from someone as capable as Felix. Some viewers would call it, "Brilliant!" but ultimately, it's very much dependent on whether one has seen this other classic movie.
My reaction was, "Appreciation, not imitation, is the sincerest form of flattery".
RATING: 7/10
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